KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
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Platte County voters will decide next week whether to expand property tax relief to all homeowners.
If passed, the Homestead Property Tax Credit would cap annual property tax increases at 5% per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher. This doesn't eliminate tax increases entirely but provides more predictable limits for homeowners.
"This is really an effort to stop those shocks from happening, to bring some common sense to personal property tax on your single family residence," Platte County Commissioner Joe Vanover said.
A question I received from a viewer was what this means for seniors who already get a tax break, and whether they can get both programs. Platte County already has a senior property tax credit, which is often called a freeze, that locks in a senior's tax bill from rising costs.
Because seniors taxes are already frozen, the new cap will not change much for them.
"No, no. Seniors will receive the senior tax freeze. They don't receive both because the senior tax freeze is almost a total freeze on the increase in taxes," Vanover said.
"They have a lot of predictability in their taxes because it's almost completely frozen. This applies to everyone else, everyone that's below 62 years of age that wants some predictability," Vanover said.
If the credit is approved by voters at polling sites next week, homeowners will be able to start applying after the election.
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